Product Code Database
Nong Khai (, ) is a city in northeast Thailand. It is the capital of Nong Khai province. Nong Khai city is located in Mueang Nong Khai district.
Nong Khai lies on the Mekong River, near the site of the First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, spanning the river to Laos. The bridge, a major tourist attraction, was largely funded as a gift to the Lao government from the Australian government.Australian Govt Dept of Foreign Trade, 9 February 2008, , It is the road and railway gateway to the Lao capital, Vientiane, upriver, on the north bank opposite Thailand's Si Chiang Mai district. Construction of a rail spur to Thanaleng outside Vientiane was begun early-2007 and opened 5 March 2009.
Nong Khai is north of Bangkok by road and north of Udon Thani.
Nong Khai has become a popular destination during the Vassa festival when mysterious balls of light, or , rise from the Mekong River. The balls resemble an orange sun. They rise out of the river approximately and disappear after three to five seconds. Although the fireballs can be seen at other times, most Thais travel to see them during the full moon in October when the incidence of them is considered to be much higher.
Nong Khai's main sight is Sala Keoku (alternatively spelled as Sala Keoku, also known as Sala Keoku), a park of colossal sculptures, some over 20 m tall. The park is the handiwork of the mystic Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat, who bought the land in 1978 when he was exiled from his native Laos, where he had built a similar park in Vientiane in the 1950s. Synthesizing Buddhism and Hinduism ideologies, Buddhas, many-armed goddesses, a seven-headed Mucalinda snake, and various human-animal hybrids dominate the site.
Notable figures from twentieth century Buddhist history have lived in Nong Khai – the world renowned Buddhist scholar and leading meditation teacher Ajahn Sumedho was ordained in Wat Sisaket in Nong Khai.
|
|
